Philip Hammond to present budget to the House of Commons at 3.30pm
Final budget before the UK leaves the EU
Prime Minister promised the Conservative party conference that austerity had ended - will her chancellor deliver?
Today Philip Hammond delivers the UK's final budget before it exits the European Union. The chancellor of the exchequer is expected to announce a meek and timid set of spending proposals, but that does not ring true with Theresa May's pledge to her party conference in October that austerity was over.
So, more Thatcherite cuts or a tax rise to end the endless and needless ideological economics that the Conservative party has inflicted on the UK? Likely neither and somewhere in between.
Keep it here on our live blog to find out: has austerity ended?
4.42pm: Hammond ends his speech by saying austerity is over, having announced nothing during his speech to that effect.
3.48pm: Well he's said austerity is over, but not actually announced anything to that effect soooo
3.47pm: No, no it's not
3.45pm: Ooo is it going to end?
2.47pm: 45 minutes to go...
12.00pm: All quiet on the Western front, austerity is not yet over
10.41am: No, it hasn't
Ed Davey has slammed Donald Trump as the “most corrupt president ever” as he accused him of market manipulation with his posts on Iran. Speaking at an event on Tuesday evening, Davey was asked about Trump’s claims this week that the US has had “productive conversations” with Iran about ending the conflict between the two […]
“I see Reform MPs have walked out!” Nigel Farage and Reform MPs stormed out of prime minister’s questions in a strop after Keir Starmer slammed the party for ‘abandoning voters.’ During Wednesday’s session of PMQs, Farage stood up to put it to the prime minister that his promise to ‘smash the gangs’ has been a […]
Caroline Lucas fact-checked “lies” about clean energy that were being spouted by Reform’s head of policy James Orr. Both Lucas and Orr were appearing on this week’s edition of Question Time, where one of the main topics of conversation was what impact the war in Iran will have on UK energy prices. Orr – whose […]